A Toast to 2013!

Hello again! I took a small break from blogging. However, my new years resolution is to pick it back up so that I will be able to remember all the great moments of the new year. 2013 was a great year with many ups and downs and I am looking forward to a new start in 2014:)

Before welcoming the new year-Here's a toast to 2013!

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

August in Review!

Since I unintentionally did not blog the ENTIRE month of August, I decided to put together a post of some random August happenings. Of course the entire month was blurred with back to school activities. I was excited to get back in the swing of things, but the beginning of school is so much paperwork. And I HATE paperwork.

Before the first day of school, the city of Brandon hosted a back to school bash at city hall. All the schools and businesses set up booths. Cheerleaders, dance team, and band performed as well. It was really a neat little event:

Hanging our with some BES students at our photo booth. 

Some pretty awesome teachers with the BHS mascot-I can't believe I took a picture with a bulldog, at least it is red:-) 

The next day we had meet the teacher which officially begin the 2013-2014 school year. I have the SWEETEST class with awesome parents. It has been a great start to the year. 

Some of my favorite teacher friends @ Meet the Teacher. 

August has also been the month of baby showers in preparation for Baby Wood, Baby Simpson (Josh and Lauren that is) and Baby Ferguson. Fall is going to be very exciting!!! 

Probably our last picture before little Miss Lucy Maxwell joins us in a couple of weeks

Jordan's Hattiesburg shower-it was so beautiful and girly :) 

We hosted a shower for Lelia and Miss Anne Pressley who will be here in October. Another little baby owl to add to the mix. So much fun to see our group of girlfriends get bigger with all the babies!! 

And a picture of my baby to round up the month of August! haha. It has been an extremely busy month . I am looking forward to Ole Miss Football, Babies, and Fall!! My favorite time of year:-) 

D.C. Stop!

On our way home from Boston, we had a long layover in D.C. We decided to make the most of it and explore. Since Jim had never been and it had been over ten years since I went in school, we were real tourists for the day! I contacted my favorite D.C. girl-Mary Mitchell to help me plan. It was perfect and we had just enough time to see some of the famous spots. I was so grateful she was able to make some great suggestions:-) Thanks mitch!!

FDR Memorial 

MLK memorial 

Lincoln Memorial 

WWII Memorial 

We had lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill which was wonderful! Then we walked to the White House for a picture. 

After the photo stop-we went to the Smithsonian Museums. We did a quick walk through at the natural history then headed over to American history where I saw my favorite exhibit: 

THE FIRST LADIES! 

Every first lady picks a china pattern (because they know how important it is to have china!) This exhibit had all the patterns displayed. The above pattern was chosen by Laura Bush. But my favorite of the line was this beautiful pattern: 

Nancy Reagan's pattern (by Lenox) 

Michelle Obama's inagural dress- so very pretty in person. 

We ended the day with a brisk walk through Arlington to the tomb of the unknown soldier: 

Definitely a fun detour on the way home, but certainly worth a trip back by itself! 

Boston Trip!

We celebrated our birthdays and anniversary by taking a trip to Boston a couple of weeks ago! Even though we did plan our trip around the yankees/red sox game, we had lots of fun sightseeing and exploring! Naturally, my personal travel agent Margaret helped us organize everything! My other buddy, Jordan Thomas, helped plan activities! I  consider these two my well-traveled and cultured friends. I am so thankful for their expertise:-) Beware..lots of pictures coming ahead...

DAY 1:

We landed in Boston that afternoon! We took a duck tour around the city that went on land and in water. This was the perfect first activity because it gave us a real sense of the city! After our tour, I headed to Newbury street for h&m stop 1. (you have to go more than once-duh!)

I believe this was the sherriff's department-had to get a pic for dad! 

Day 2:

We started the day early at FENWAY PARK! Jim was so excited. Even though I'm not a HUGE baseball fan, I still really enjoyed it. It's such a classic sports venue. I love how old it is. 

Beautiful 

Hanging out in the big green monster! 

After our Fenway Tour, we went to the famous cheer's for lunch. After that, we began the LONG afternoon of the freedom trail. Let me just say it was HOT. Like ten times worse than the Mississippi heat, record breaking temperatures for Boston. Despite the weather being almost unbearable, I REALLY enjoyed the freedom trail. It's awesome to see history come to life! 

Boston Massacre 

Where the Declaration of Independence was read.

My personal favorite-Paul Revere's House 

So neat inside! 

The midnight ride of Paul Revere-I loved seeing this since I touch on this in my classroom. Can't wait to share pictures. 

One if by land, two if by sea! 

We ended the night with a wonderful dinner at Atlantic Fish Company-thanks marg for the suggestion. So yummy.

Also the sight of one of the boston marathon bombings, very surreal to see in real life! 

Day 3:

We headed on the "T" to Harvard! Once again, it was blistering hot!!! But we enjoyed it. I really was surprised how big Cambridge was- I could have spent a lot more time there. 

That evening, we enjoyed dinner at Sweet Caroline's near Fenway and went to the game! It was so much fun. 

On our last day in Boston, we took a boston harbor cruise! Made for some great photo-opps! 

We also made another trip to Newbury Street-so much fun! We ended with dinner at Ye Olde Union Oyster House-the oldest restaurant in America. They even have a booth where JFK liked to dine! Very neat (thanks marg!) 

Sorry for all the pictures, but it truly was a great trip! I really love this part of the country and hope to take another trip there soon:-)